Pickleball: The Fastest-Growing Sport You Need to Try with Your Friends!

Looking for a new, fun, and social way to get active with your friends? Look no further than pickleball! This quirky-sounding sport is taking the world by storm, and for good reason. It’s easy to learn, incredibly fun, and perfectly designed for friendly competition and lots of laughs. So grab your pals, and let’s dive into how to play pickleball and make some unforgettable memories.

What Exactly Is Pickleball?

Imagine if tennis, badminton, and ping-pong had a baby – that’s pickleball! Played on a court similar to badminton, with a net slightly lower than tennis, players use solid paddles to hit a perforated plastic ball (like a wiffle ball) over the net. It can be played as singles (one player per side) or doubles (two players per side), with doubles being the most popular and social way to play.

Why Pickleball is Perfect for Friends

Easy to Learn, Hard to Master: You can be rallying and having fun within minutes of picking up a paddle, even if you’ve never played a racket sport before. This low barrier to entry makes it perfect for mixed skill levels within a friend group.
Social & Conversational: The smaller court size and slower ball speed mean you’re closer to your partners and opponents, allowing for plenty of banter, encouragement, and laughter during play.
Great Workout, Low Impact: You’ll get a fantastic cardio workout without the high impact often associated with other sports. It’s easy on the joints, making it accessible for a wide range of ages and fitness levels.
Affordable & Accessible: Many local parks, community centers, and gyms are adding pickleball courts. Equipment (paddles and balls) is relatively inexpensive to start.

The Basics: How to Play

Court: A pickleball court is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long. A net divides the court in half.
Non-Volley Zone (The Kitchen): This is the 7-foot area on each side of the net. You cannot hit the ball out of the air (volley) while standing in the Kitchen. More on this crucial rule below!
Paddles: Solid paddles, larger than ping-pong paddles but smaller than tennis rackets.
Ball: A plastic, perforated ball, slightly larger than a tennis ball.

Serving

Underhand Serve: The serve must be hit with an underhand motion, with the paddle making contact with the ball below the waist.
Diagonal Serve: The serve must be hit diagonally cross-court into the opponent’s service court.
One Bounce: The server gets only one attempt. If the ball hits the net and lands in the correct service court (a “let serve”), it’s replayed. If it lands out or doesn’t clear the net, it’s a fault.
No Volley on Serve Return: The receiving team must let the served ball bounce once before hitting it.

The “Double Bounce Rule” (The Most Important Rule for Beginners!)

This is where pickleball gets its unique rhythm and why it’s so beginner-friendly.

The serve must bounce once on the receiving side.
The return of serve must bounce once on the serving side.
After these two bounces, players can either volley the ball (hit it out of the air) or hit it after a bounce.

This rule keeps players from rushing the net immediately and encourages longer, more strategic rallies.

The “Kitchen” Rule (Non-Volley Zone)

No Volleying in the Kitchen: Players cannot hit the ball out of the air (volley) while standing inside the Non-Volley Zone (the “Kitchen”) or if any part of their foot is touching the Kitchen line.
You Can Enter the Kitchen: You can go into the Kitchen to hit a ball that has bounced in there. After hitting the ball, you must immediately exit the Kitchen before hitting another shot.
The Kitchen adds Strategy: This rule prevents powerful players from dominating the net, promoting softer shots and strategic play.

Scoring

Only the serving team can score points.
Games are typically played to 11 points, winning by at least a 2-point margin.
Doubles Scoring: This is the trickiest part for new players, but easy once you get it.
- The score is called as three numbers: “Server’s Score – Receiver’s Score – Server Number.”
- Example: “Zero – Zero – One” (0-0-1). The first server of the game starts.
- The serving team continues to serve until they fault.
- When the first server faults, the second partner on that team then serves (e.g., “0-0-2”). They continue serving until they fault.
- Once both players on the serving team have faulted, the serve goes to the other team.
- The only exception is at the very start of the game: the first team to serve only gets one server (the “1” in “0-0-1”). After that initial fault, the serve goes to the other team, and they follow the two-server rule for the rest of the game.

Tips for Playing with Friends

Be Patient: Everyone learns at their own pace. Encourage each other, cheer on good shots, and laugh off the mistakes.
Focus on Fun, Not Just Winning: While friendly competition is great, remember the primary goal is to spend quality time together.
Rotate Partners: If you have more than four people, rotate partners frequently. This allows everyone to play with different skill levels and keeps things social.
Call Out Scores Loudly: This helps prevent confusion, especially with the unique pickleball scoring system.
- Try Drilling: If you want to improve, spend a few minutes before or after playing just practicing specific shots like serves, returns, or dinks (soft shots into the Kitchen).
- Hydrate and Take Breaks: Pickleball can be deceptively good exercise!
- Embrace the “Dink”: The dink is a soft shot that lands just over the net, ideally in your opponent’s Kitchen. Mastering this shot is key to strategic pickleball and leads to some incredibly fun rallies.

Ready to Play?

Pickleball is more than just a sport; it’s a community. It’s an opportunity to connect, stay active, and create lasting memories with your friends. So find a local court, grab some paddles, and prepare to fall in love with the fastest-growing sport around. Your friends (and your fitness) will thank you!